in the air

Present as a feeling or mood that people around you can sense.

• Love is in the air.
• We felt tension in the air during dinner.
• There was a sense of hope in the air.

How to use it: something is in the air (Excitement was in the air before the concert.)

Similar words: around, perceptible

Common phrases: in the air, something in the air

Being talked about widely, although nobody knows where the information came from.

• There are rumours in the air.
• Talk of an election was in the air.
• Nobody could explain the strange reports in the air.

How to use it: something is in the air (Rumours of a takeover are in the air.)

Similar words: circulating, going around

Common phrases: in the air, something in the air

Not yet decided, settled, or secure.

• Our plans are still in the air.
• His future was in the air after the closure.
• The final arrangements remain in the air.

How to use it: something is in the air (The date remains in the air.)

Similar words: unsettled, uncertain, up in the air

Opposites: settled, decided

Common phrases: in the air, still in the air

Having an unprotected side that an enemy can attack.

• Their flank was in the air.
• The retreat left our right wing in the air.
• The commander refused to leave a flank in the air.

How to use it: have a flank/wing in the air (The division had its left flank in the air.)

Similar words: exposed, unprotected, unsupported

Opposites: protected

Common phrases: in the air, wing in the air